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> Unfortunately on a firewall with even a moderate amoun of rules cache is
> very important, at least at > 50 mb/s speeds. The more rules that stay in
> cache the faster your firewall is. If you are talking about < 10mb/s it
> doesn't really matter, anything faster than a sparc 20 or a p3-450 will do
> fine ;-).
We're nowhere near 50mb/s, we only sometimes saturate the T1. However, I'm
planning for explosive growth in the company over the next five years, and
would like to get something that can grow with us. We could require an
additional 1.5-3mb/s every three months, if we grow like I'm expecting. It
doesn't make much sense to buy a PIX 501 to outgrow it in 6 months, when I
can spend ~40% more and have a firewall that is upgradeable, opensource, and
will scale with us for the next 2-5 years. Plus it can be used as something
else if it becomes useless as a firewall.
Running an older computer really isn't an option simply because its
impossible to get parts for them. I can't go down to the local computer
store and pick up parts for a P3-450, but I can get parts for a P4 an Athlon
within 30 mins to an hour.
-Jacob
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